Gas fueling system for filling truck-mounted container by using the power of the truck motor



Nov. 6, 1951 R, GODET 2,574,177

OAS FUELINO SYSTEM FOR FILLING TRUCK-MOUNTED CONTAINER BY USING THE POWER OF THE TRUCK MOTOR Filed sept. 12, 1945 @n /BMM,

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 6, 1951 TRUCK-MOUNTED CONTAINER BY USING THE PWERVV F THE TRUCK MOT-0R l RaymondI Godet, Paris; France l Application September 12, 1945,.Serial No. 615,816

l This invention relates to a fueling. system. for motor vehicles, and to a. filling. station.

It was proposed in the' ear-ly days of the auto# mobile industry to drive internal combustion engines with. a gaseous rather than a liquid fuel and during the iirst World War many vehiclesl in France and other parts of Europe were provided with containers for the storage of illuminating gas which could be iilled from the city gas mains. Those containers usually took the shape of `balloons and were fastened to the top ofthe motor vehicle. Other schemes for supplying' the necessary fuel involved the attachment to the motor vehicle of a producer gas unit. 'All such vproposals were unsatisfactory. During the second World War is was proposed alsoinFrance toV compress illuminating gas or producer gas in'. tanks to be mounted-upon the vehicle. That system was employed to a very considerable-extentl and was found to bean improvement over the methods earlier developed, but it was by no means so successful an idea that it was any sense capable of competing with liquid fuel.

An object of this invention is to presenta system ozt supplying gaseous fuel to motor vehicles that' is technically ellicient, economically advantageous, andu capable of competing with gasoline as a fuel; The method and means which I have conceived are particularly adapted to lemployment in connection with leetA units operating over regular routes.

Heretoforea the cost of installing iillingv sta` tionsfor the handling of gaseous fuel has been so` great'in comparison to the eiciency of the fuel that the establishment of such stations i'n the absence of compelling. conditions such as positive lack of gasoline was not to be considered. It is an object. of this invention to combine a fuel of superior eiciency and which is available in large" quantities, with new conceptions in the art of supplying gaseous fuel'to motor vehicles. In such manner the gaseous fuel may be satisfactorily and advantageously employed in direct competition with gasoline in areas where both are found, andk incomplete replacement of transported fuelA where it is naturally lacking.

Thel fuel preferably employed in my combination is natural gas, which is more generously dis tributed throughout the earth and moreV abun dant than oil. Its efficiency is -very great comparison with` that ofilluminating gas or prod-1 ucergasi and in some portions` of the world; notably the south of. France: andy in the United States, it basireceived extensive developments:

.6 Claims. (Cl. 222-117) 2 for other. purposes. ceptions embodied inthis specification, thev dif culties of transferring it from its source. to an aultomobile were so. great that no successful method of accomplishingv it is believed to have beenr invented. In the United States, for exampleQthe mere cost of installingstations adapted. to compress the gas .to the 15G-200l atmospheresA found necessary in acceptable French practice wasalone sumcient to block the development..

My invention contemplates the establishment along. selected routes of 'pipe lines carrying. natural. gas at a substantial pressure,. vfor instance, 10 atmospheres, the establishment of filling stations of uniqueconstr-uction at reasonable intervals. anda fuel. supply system in which parts mounted on the vehicle cooperate with the parts located. at the. lling stations to produce a new eiiciency and very great technical and economic advantages. These pipe liliesy are supplied with natural gas from suitable gas Wells., andv are maintained under substantial pressure by pumps, compressors, or other satisfactory means whenever the natural pressure of the gas is insumcient to meet. the requirements of the line.

The above andi further` objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read iny connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to bev expressly understood', however,. thatA the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended as a delinition of: the limits off the invention, refer'- ence for this latter purpose being had primarily to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein'like reference. characters refer to like parts throughout the vseveral views. y

Fig, 1 is a diagrammatic view lof' the preferred form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan View of the cornbination shown in Fig. 1;V Y

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic elevational. view of another form. of my invention; and

Fig. 4y is a sectionalview of asimple andrsatisfactory type of hose connection. f

Inf Fig. l. numeral. l0 indicates generally: a

bus having a motor Il, steering wheelsV l2., and

driving. wheels` I-3. Upon the top of the bus are carried two metal cylinders lll which are connected at their ends` by pipev l5- which com municates with the interior of each of them in a manner well understood by persons skilled in the artof pipe fitting. Pressuregauge I5 iszcon.1

Howeven, prior to the. conv 3 nected to the end of the pipe I5 and shows the pressure within the cylinders I4. An inlet pipe I1 having a valve I8 is connected to the pipe I5 and is provided at its end with a screw thread 2li, as shown in Fig. 4, adapted to receive a screw threaded sleeve 2|l of a filling tube v22 having gasket 23 adapted to make sealing contact with the end of the pipe I1. Filling tube 22 is connected to a pipe 23a having a valve 24, the said pipe being connected to the high pressure side of a compressor 25 which is shown Vinthis instance to be of two stage reciprocating type. A very satisfactory compression system comprises a two stage compressor with an air or water cooling device between the stages. One stage reciprocating and other satisfactory types capable of achieving the desired degree of compression can also be used. The compressor 25 is connected by pipe 26 to a meter 21, a valve 28, and' a. gas main 29. The gas main contains natural gas under substantial pressure, for instance of the order of atmospheres, or more or less. Each of the valves which has so far been described is'manually operable.

It is a part of the conception of this invention that the power for operating the apparatus at the filling station shall be furnished by the vehicle that is being serviced. To this end a pair of rollers 30, 3I are mounted in a pit in the station driveway on trunnions or bearings v(not shown) at such a level that their upper surfaces are substantially even with the driveway. The rollers are interconnected by chain 32 which passes over sprockets 33 and 34 attached to the roller ends or trunnions. A chain 35 passes over sprocket wheel 36 driven by the roller 3| and over a sprocket 31 that drives the compressor.

This system of the invention may be operated as follows: When refueling of the bus IIJ becomes necessaryit is driven into a filling station constructed according to the principles of this invention and backed upon the rollers 30, 3I shown in Fig. 1 so that drive wheels I3 may be made to turn the rollers and operate the compressor. The filling hose 22 is attached to the pipe I1, the valves I8, 24 and 28 are opened, the bus is thrown into gear, the rollers are driven by its driving wheels, and the compressor forces gas into the containers I4. As a result of this invention, it is not essential that the pressure within the containers be raised to the 150-200 atmospheres contemplated in the prior art, satisfactory results being obtained, generally speaking, with pressures more on the order of 30 to 50 atmospheres. Such pressures can be obtained by compressors of comparatively small capacity and inexpensive construction. moderate pressures and the installation of filling stations of my design at frequent intervals, the weight of the containers carriedby vehicles can be materially reduced andthe balance of the vehicles can be improved. The lling is continued until the gauge I6 registers the desired pressure in the containers I4, during which time the meter 21 registers the quantity of gas which has been taken.

When it is desired to remove the bus from the filling station, the motor is disengaged, the valves are closed, the hose 22 is uncoupled, the brake 4U is applied to the drum 30 to prevent it from rotating and the bus is driven 01T the drums onto the roadway.

The gas in the drums passes through pipe 50 to a pressure regulator 5I of anyl known design,

By the use of these the function of which is to deliver the gas at constant pressure. to the mixer 52 where it is combined with a quantity of air sufllcient to provide a mixture of maximum power. The mixer may also be of satisfactory known design.

By means of this invention filling stations require no engines, and'need compressors of only vmoderate or low pressure. Because of the reduced cost of the filling stations and the superior efiiciency of the novel system it is possible to extend pipe lines and to increase the number of stations. 'I'he cost of motor vehicles is not increased nor the dead weight made burdening. Gas driven vehicles are thus given new technical efficiency and are placed in a position to compete economically with gasoline driven vehicles. In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 3 there is diagrammatically shown a modification of the invention wherein a bus indicated generally by the number 60, having driven wheels 6I and steering wheels 62, is propelled by a motor 63 through a gear box 64. Cylinders I4a are mount-V ed on the top of the bus and are connected through a pipe 65 to a regulator 61 and a mixer 68, the connections being substantially the same as those which have been hereinabove described. From the gear box 64 projects a stub shaft 69 which may be joined to a stub shaft 10 by a clutch 1I of any satisfactory type. The stub shaft 10 drives a compressor 12 which may be connected -through pipe 13 and inlet hose 14, to a nipple or pipe joint to a gas main 15 having a meter 15. The output end of the compressor 12 is connected through pipe 80 to the pipe 65.

When it is desired to refuel the vehicle of Fig. 3 it is run into a lling station, which may be no more than a pipe projecting from the gas main, and the cylinders th'ereof are connected thereto by the hose 14, which in this case may be carried on the vehicle. Double valves BI, 82 are opened, the clutch 1I is thrown into engagement so that the stub shaft 69, driven through the gears in the gear box, drives the stub shaft 10 which operates the compressor 12. The pressure obtained will depend upon the capacity of the compressor used. It is possible to obtain pressures of the order hereinabove indicated with compressors of reasonable size.v This system requires each motor vehicle to carry its own compressor, which in some circumstances may not be as desirable as the system shown in Fig. 1. Nevertheless, major advantages are obtained from this system, which is well adapted to practical conditions in certain areas.

`Particular' advantages of the invention arise from the fact that the need for engines at gas filling stations is eliminated. Filling stations can, in favorable instances, be no more than a valve and a simple nipple on the gas line. It is not even necessary to employ a gas meter because the quantity of gas delivered can be computed from the known capacity of the containers and the pressures existing at the commencement and end of refueling. If it is desired to avoid arithmetical computation, tables can be computed that show at a glance the quantity of gas compressed. By means of this invention, natural gas is placed in a position to compete with gasoline as a fuel, particularly in connection with eets of vehicles operating over established routes. The invention has the potential of establishing a new and substantial industry and of conserving for industrial use the dwindling oil suppliesof the. world. It is of great value 'in areas which 5 have no oil but are well supplied with natural gas.

Although only two embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be expressly understood that the same is not limited -thereto. may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as will now be :apparent to those skilled in the art. For a denition of the limits of the invention, reference is had primarily to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fueling system for motor vehicles that comprises a pipe line having a plurality of outlet stations and containing combustible gas under pressure of circa 10 atmospheres, a motor vehicle having a gas container which is of Weight limited to the acceptance of pressures on the order of 30 to 50 atmospheres and a motor which is fed f from said container by means including a gas pipe, and means to fill the tank With gas from the said line including a conduit, a compressor of 30 to 50 atmospheres capacity in the conduit,

and means to drive the compressor from the vehicle motor.

2. A fueling system according to claim 1 in which the compressor is mounted upon the vehicle and is connected to the motor thereof by a power takeoff.

3. A fueling system for motor vehicles that comprises a pipe line having a plurality of outlet stations and containing combustible gas under pressure of circa 10 atmospheres, a motor vehicle having a gas container which is of Weight limited to the acceptance of pressures on the order of 30 to 50 atmospheres and a motor which is fed from said container by means including a gas pipe, and means to fill the tank with gas from the said line including a conduit, a compressor of 30 to 50 atmospheres capacity in the conduit, means to drive the compressor from the vehicle motor including a ipair of rollers drivably connected to said compressor, a driveway whereby the vehicle drive wheels may be driven upon the rollers, and brake means for said rollers.

Various changes] 4. A lling station for vehicles operated by fuel gas comprising a gas pipe linev containing a supply of fuel gas under pressure on the order of 10 atmospheres, outlet means in said pipe line, a compressor of 30-50 atmospheres capacity, conduit means constructed and arranged to connect the compressor to the gas container of a vehicle having a gas container, means to connect the compressor to the pipe line, a motor on the vehicle for the propulsion thereof, and means to drive the compressor by power of the said motor of the vehicle being charged.

5. A lling station according to claim 4 in which the means to drive the compressor includes a pair of rollers drivably connected to said compressor, a driveway whereby the vehicle drive Wheels may be driven upon the rollers, and brake means for said rollers.

6. A filling station according to claim 4 in which the compressor is mounted upon the vehicle and is connected to the motor thereof by a power takeoi.

RAYMOND GODET.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS' Number Name Dat-e 498,888 Rockwell June 6, 1893 1,284,389 Lovelace Nov. 12, 1918 1,443,550 Wilkinson Jan. 30, 1923 1,737,929 Libby Dec. 3, 1929 1,764,057 Steinhauer Aug. 5, 1930 1,772,247 Forrester et al. Aug. 5, 1930 2,014,797 Davey Sept. 17, 1935 2,123,156 Jogoe July 5, 1938 2,326,187 White Aug. 10, 1943 2,384,677 Hill Sept. 11, 1945 2,469,434 Hansen et al. May 10, 1949 2,507,597 Holdridge May 16, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 880,849 France Jan. 11, 1943 

